Flying arrangement

ABSTRACT

A flying arrangement, consisting of at least one flying unit that is able to start vertically and that can accommodate at least one person for flying freely within at least a hall, the boundaries of which prevent a flying unit from leaving the hall.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/528,886, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,465,236 entitled FLYING ARRANGEMENT andfiled Mar. 23, 2005 as a national stage entry of internationalapplication number PCT/EP2003/010659, having international filing dateSep. 25, 2003, which was not published in English, and which claimspriority to German patent application No. DE102 45 351.9, filed Sep. 27,2002, and the entireties of these priority applications as herebyincorporated by reference and the priority and benefit of which areclaimed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to amusement rides and more particularly to flyingarrangement amusement park rides.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Amusement park rides that give the participant a feeling of beingairborne or of flying are known as carnival attractions. The knownflying arrangements, however, are constructed in such a manner that theparticipant or user does not have the opportunity to be activelyinvolved while he uses such amusement park rides. Instead, he is forcedto sit in a seat which is forcibly controlled and follows a fixed path,e.g., on rails as on a roller coaster, on a vertical column or on rods.Thus, the participant can only take a ride but he cannot determine thecourse of the event on his own. He cannot actively influence thetrajectory path or the airborne process.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to make available aflying arrangement that allows the participant to actively participatein the flying or airborne experience. This includes not only amusementpark arrangements but, in particular, also arrangements for trainingmotor and mental abilities that are essential so as to be able to masterflying arrangements.

SUMMARY

To solve this problem, a flying arrangement is proposed. The flyingarrangement thus comprises a hall and a minimum of one free-flying unitthat is preferably able to accommodate one but possibly also two or evenmore persons, which can start vertically and which can then fly freelyaround the hall.

The hall is designed so that its boundaries prevent a flying unit fromleaving the hall while flying. This can be implemented by providing thehall with closed walls and a closed ceiling. It is, however, notabsolutely necessary that the boundaries be solidly closed. Theboundaries can also be defined by a wire lattice so that the hallso-to-speak forms a cage for the flying units. It is not even necessaryfor the boundaries to be defined by mechanical means. To prevent aflying unit from leaving a circumscribed area, even a remote controlcould be used. Thus, upon approaching, e.g., this type of a verticalboundary, a flying unit could be forcibly turned aside or lowered.

The term “hall” includes structures of the most varied geometries aslong as they can suitably accommodate the free-flying units. Thesimplest and economically most advantageous shape is that of a structurethat is convex on all sides, in particular of a structure in the shapeof a rectangle with flat rectangular side faces; boundary areas that arenot flat, e.g., round, upright boundary areas are, however, possible aswell.

The structures need not be convex on all sides. One possibility underconsideration is that of a flying tunnel design, in particular withself-looping flying tunnels in which the flying units can fly withinclosed paths.

It is also possible to combine a number of halls of different types.

To ensure that the feeling of free flight is sufficiently pronounced,the flying units and the hall must have a certain size ratio relative toone another so that the flying units are sufficiently mobile and do notapproach the boundaries too soon. For example, a hall in the shape of arectangle can be dimensioned so that it is twenty or thirty-times longerand higher than one single flying unit alone. The horizontal dimensionsof the hall will frequently be limited not only by the economicallyfeasible size, but also by the space available for such a hall in anamusement park or a similar facility.

The flying units will be primarily designed to accommodate one person.To maintain the correct size ratio with respect to a practicallyimplementable hall, they should not be excessively large, i.e., theyshould not have the size of a small airplane. Flying units of this typeare known from the prior art. Thus, for example, during the opening ofthe Olympic Games in Los Angeles, a pilot with a rocket-powered flyingunit floated into the stadium. How close such flying units are to beingcommercially implemented is apparent from an article entitled “Push thebutton and lift off” that was published in the weekly magazine “WELT amSONNTAG,” No. 33, Aug. 18, 2002.

The present invention is suitable not only as an attraction for anamusement park or a carnival with the purpose of selling rides, but alsoas a permanently stationary installation similar to that of a go-carttrack. Furthermore, the invention does not have only an amusement orentertainment value, but can also be used as a tool for flight trainingwith flying units of the type related to sports or professionalpurposes.

The flying unit can be designed in the form of a flying disk with aplatform, in the center of which space for the person is provided andwhich also has a lifting unit assembly. Such a platform can have adiameter of approximately 3-5 m so as to be able to accommodate asufficiently powerful lifting unit assembly on it.

The lifting unit assembly could comprise a plurality of separate liftingunits distributed around the center and able to trigger a lifting effectthat is distributed uniformly around the center.

A uniform lifting effect is necessary to hold the platform in thehorizontal plane. The uniform lifting effect is achieved by means of asuitable control.

In the preferred practical example of the invention, the lifting units,when in operation, are vertically downward operating blowers that, inthe practical example, can be electrically driven, for example, in sucha manner that the power for the drive is supplied by detection loops inthe hall.

To drive the lifting units, the alternate practical example provides forfuel-burning motors to be included and disposed on the platform. Anotheralternative is that the lifting units are designed in the form of rocketboosters.

An important feature of the invention is that at least one flying unithas a position-detection device so that the position inside the hall canbe determined at any time.

This is a prerequisite so as to ensure that the flying unit can becontrolled by means of a remote control device, either to avoid acollision of the flying unit with other flying units or with a boundaryof the hall, regardless of its design, or to be able, if necessary, toreturn certain flying units to the ground.

The hall can comprise a minimum of two zones, and flying with a flyingunit can be restricted to one zone or to specific zones, for example,for beginners, to a low zone near the ground level.

It is recommended that, to exclude the risk of collisions, at least oneflying unit be equipped with distance sensors that are connected to theremote control device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, practical examples of the flying unit according to thepresent invention are shown as diagrammatic representations.

FIGS. 1 a and 1 b show the contours of the types of halls to beconsidered;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of one single flying unit;

FIG. 3 shows a sectioned front view of the hall according to FIG. 1 aapproximately along line III-III in FIG. 1 a;

FIG. 4 shows a lateral view of the hall according to FIG. 1 a in thedirection of arrow IV in FIG. 1 a; and

FIG. 5 shows a perspective sectioned view of a model of a flying tunnelassembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The hall, which in its entirety is designated by 100 in FIG. 1 a, has arectangle shape with a ground 1, a ceiling 2, two shorter rectangularside faces 3 and 4 and two longer side faces 5 and 6. Side faces 2 to 6form boundaries that can be designed as closed walls, thus preventingthe flying units 10 (FIG. 2) flying inside said hall from leaving hall100, or as “electronic walls” that interact with the control of flyingunit 10, so as to prevent said flying unit from leaving the rectangularspace.

The rectangular shape is only one specific practical example. FIG. 1 bshows an alternative practical example 200 of a hall that has the shapeof an upright cylinder section, FIG. 5 shows hall 300 that is designedin the form of a flying tunnel assembly 40.

FIG. 2 shows one single flying unit 10 which, in this particularpractical example, is designed in the form of a flying disk andcomprises a platform 7 with a circular cross section, in the center ofwhich a cupola 8 made of a transparent material, such as Plexiglas, islocated, which cupola, during operation of flying unit 10, accommodatesthe person. Uniformly distributed on a circular area all around thecupola 8 are nine lifting units 10′ in the form of lifting blowers 9with downwardly directed nozzles 11 from which the lifting airjets—shown as arrows 12—exit. By means of a suitable automatic control,it can be ensured that the lifting effect of lifting blowers 9 isdistributed uniformly throughout the circumference so that during theflight, platform 7 remains substantially horizontal. When platform 7 hasa diameter of approximately 3 m, it is possible, in the assembly shown,to accommodate lifting blowers 9 that have enough power to lift and toallow at least one person in cupola 8 to fly. The circular cross sectionof platform 7 and the number of nine lifting blowers 9 are simplyfeatures of the practical example but are not compulsory.

The person in cupola 8 has available a hand-operated control device 13,indicated by the broken lines FIG. 2, so as to control the power outputof the blowers 9 and thus the rising and lowering of the flying unit.The person can also determine the direction of travel, either bysuitably influencing the lifting blowers 9 or by additional horizontallyeffective nozzles (not shown in the drawing).

If the lifting units 10′ of flying unit 10 are lifting blowers 9, theselifting blowers can be electrically driven, with the current beingsupplied by suitable detection loops in hall 100,200,300 so that thefree mobility of flying unit 10 within hall 100,200,300 is maintained.

The lifting blowers 9 can, however, also be driven by means offuel-burning motors, which decreases the constructional volume. It isalso possible to use some type of rocket booster instead of the liftingblowers 9.

Details of the technical design of flying unit 10 are intended only aspractical examples. What is important is the idea to allow such flyingunits 10 to fly freely around a hall 100,200,300, such as is suggestedfor hall 100 in FIG. 3.

In the free inside space 20 of hall 100, several flying units 10 can flyaround freely. In FIGS. 3 and 4, flying units 10 are shown in simplifiedform in contrast to their representation in FIG. 2.

Hall 100 has the boundaries shown in FIG. 1 a, which may be made of,e.g., of a metal wire lattice so as to allow the flying person a view ofthe outside and thus provide a better flying sensation.

On the inside, hall 100 is divided into three zones 23,24,25 by means ofadditional boundaries 21,22. The lowermost zone 23 is close to theground and intended for beginners. Each flying unit 10 has aposition-detection device that interacts with a remote control device 26that is able to identify the various flying units 10 and monitor thepresence in the intended zone 23, 24 or 25. If the boundary of the zonefor that permission is given is crossed or if technical problems arise,any flying unit can be returned to the ground by means of the remotecontrol device 26, which has priority over the hand-controlled device 13(FIG. 2).

In addition to the control via the remote control device 26, distancesensors 27 (FIG. 2) can be disposed on the individual flying units so asto avoid collisions with other flying units 10 or with the boundaries3,4,5,6 of the hall.

Boundaries 21,22 that separate zones 23,24,25 on the inside 20 of hall100 from one another can be “electronic walls.” But if boundaries 21,22are mechanical boundaries in the form of wire lattice walls, access tozones 24,25 is provided by an elevator 28 that transports a flying unit10 into one of the higher-lying zones 24,25 and places it into thedesired zone. It is, however, also possible for flying units 10 to befirst hoisted to the higher-lying zones 24,25 by means of a cable and torelease the connection only once the flying unit involved is airborne.Such a cable connection also makes it possible to secure flying unit 10during the start-up phase and to avoid a crash if the necessary liftingpower were not available.

While halls 100,200 have a convex shape on all sides, “hall” 300 in FIG.5 is one that comprises an assembly 40 of flying tunnels 30. Flyingtunnels 30 are tubular structures, the walls of which can be formed byclosed physical boundaries similar to those of hall 100 by, e.g., wirelattice or plastic panels. But it is also possible to use “electronicwalls” for flying tunnels 30. The inside cross section of flying tunnels30 is predominantly convex and of a size that allows the flying units 10to fly free from obstructions. To avoid a collision with the boundaries,the inside diameter of a flying tunnel 30 should be approximately five-to twenty-times larger in all directions than the diameter of the flyingunit 10.

The simplest embodiment of a flying tunnel assembly is a straight,horizontal flying tunnel that can be traversed in flight on a straightpath, for example, inside a relatively large rectangular hall 100 orfrom such a hall into another such hall 100.

The next stage would be a flying tunnel in the form of a ring thatallows the flying unit 10 to follow a closed self-looping path.

FIG. 5 shows a considerably more complex flying tunnel assembly 40 thatalso includes upward slopes and that allows travel on an extensive andhighly varied route. In zone 31, three segments of flying tunnel 30operate on several levels one on top of the other. In zone 32, flyingtunnel 30 forms a helical path from that flying tunnel 30 turns into atype of cupola 33 forming a “hall” that is convex on all sides. In zone34, flying tunnel 30 takes a considerable upward slope of approximately45°.

The flying tunnel assembly 40 is supported by portal-like supportingstructures 35. Although it is spatially relatively large, it can beeasily implemented since the flying tunnel assembly 40 has only aboundary function and does not need to support anything other than itsown weight.

1. A flying arrangement, comprising: a non-pressurized hall; at leastone non-buoyant flying unit comprising: means for supporting at leastone person in the flying unit, and a lifting unit assembly with controlmeans operable by at least one person in the flying unit to allow theflying unit to start vertically and to fly freely within the hallwithout risking damage to any flying units in the hall or harm topersons in the flying units and without requiring the at least oneperson in the flying unit to have flight experience or training; whereinsaid hall comprises at least one boundary operative to prevent said atleast one flying unit from exiting the hall; wherein the hall comprisesmultiple flying zones defined by at least one hall boundary; and whereinthe flying arrangement further comprises a remote control operative tooverrule the control means of the at least one flying unit when theflying unit approaches a hall boundary to prevent the flying unit fromcolliding with said boundary.
 2. The flying arrangement of claim 1,wherein the remote control is further operative to overrule the controlmeans of the at least one flying unit when the flying unit attempts toexit a circumscribed area of the hall to prevent the flying unit fromleaving the circumscribed area.
 3. The flying arrangement of claim 1,wherein the hall boundary is an electronic wall such that electronicmeans constrict the flying unit to fly freely within a predeterminedzone.
 4. The flying arrangement of claim 1, wherein the hall boundary isan electronic wall such that electronic means prevent the flying unitfrom exiting the hall.
 5. A flying arrangement, comprising: anon-pressurized hall; at least one non-buoyant flying unit comprising:means for supporting at least one person in the flying unit, and alifting unit assembly with control means operable by at least one personin the flying unit to allow the flying unit to start vertically and tofly freely within the hall without risking damage to any flying units inthe hall or harm to persons in the flying units and without requiringthe at least one person in the flying unit to have flight experience ortraining; wherein said hall comprises at least one boundary operative toprevent said at least one flying unit from exiting the hall; and whereinthe hall boundary is an electronic wall such that electronic meansconstrict the flying unit to fly freely within a predetermined zone. 6.The flying arrangement of claim 5, wherein the hall comprises multipleflying zones defined by at least one hall boundary.
 7. The flyingarrangement of claim 5, wherein the electronic means prevent the flyingunit from exiting the hall.
 8. The flying arrangement of claim 5,further comprising a remote control operative to overrule the controlmeans of the at least one flying unit when the flying unit approaches ahall boundary to prevent the flying unit from colliding with saidboundary.
 9. The flying arrangement of claim 8, wherein the remotecontrol is further operative to overrule the control means of the atleast one flying unit when the flying unit attempts to exit acircumscribed area of the hall to prevent the flying unit from leavingthe circumscribed area.
 10. A flying arrangement, comprising: anon-pressurized hall; at least one non-buoyant flying unit comprising:means for supporting at least one person in the flying unit, and alifting unit assembly with control means operable by at least one personin the flying unit to allow the flying unit to start vertically and tofly freely within the hall without risking damage to any flying units inthe hall or harm to persons in the flying units and without requiringthe at least one person in the flying unit to have flight experience ortraining; wherein said hall comprises at least one boundary operative toprevent said at least one flying unit from exiting the hall; and whereinthe hall boundary is an electronic wall such that electronic meansprevent the flying unit from exiting the hall.
 11. The flyingarrangement of claim 10, further comprising a remote control operativeto overrule the control means of the at least one flying unit when theflying unit approaches a hall boundary to prevent the flying unit fromcolliding with said boundary.
 12. The flying arrangement of claim 11,wherein the remote control is further operative to overrule the controlmeans of the at least one flying unit when the flying unit attempts toexit a circumscribed area of the hall to prevent the flying unit fromleaving the circumscribed area.
 13. The flying arrangement of claim 10,wherein the hall comprises multiple flying zones defined by at least onehall boundary.
 14. The flying arrangement of claim 13, wherein theelectronic means constrict the flying unit to fly freely within apredetermined zone.